According to reports out today, Apple has placed a big order for next-generation iPhones that could live up to their rumored name of "iPhone HD." The sometimes-on-target-sometimes-off Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes claims that the phone will have a 960×640 touchscreen, and doubled RAM capacity to 512MB, as well as a larger battery. The report says that Foxconn, the same company which builds the current iPhone, received an order for 24 million devices to be shipped starting in June.

Ming-Chi Kuo of "DigiTimes Research" says that the high resolution screen will use in-plane switching (IPS), the same technology used in the iPad as well as the 27-inch iMac to improve the screen's visibility when viewed at an angle. The screen (reportedly from LG Display and Prime View International, the company behind E Ink "electronic paper") also features fringe-field switching (FFS) for better readability in sunlight, emphasizing Apple's new focus on its mobile devices as e-readers. The screen in supposed to be 33% thinner than existing iPhone displays, in order to make room for larger battery modules supplied by Simplo Technology and Dynapack International Technology. The teardown of the Gizmodo phone showed a battery 16% larger than the one on the iPhone 3GS.

Kuo also reports the new phone will use the same A4 system-on-a-chip, rather than the multicore Cortex A9, and that RAM will be increased to 512MB. The Gizmodo phone, by contrast, had 256MB of RAM, as did the phone revealed on a Vietnamese website last week.

I cant wait I was thinking about getting a HTC HD2 but I will have a play on this first

I wish I had a miniature elephant that fit in the palm of my hand. I would pick him up and he'd lift up his trunk and stand on his back legs and say PRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPHHHHHHHH and I would say yes little elephant i love you too.

Look at those iPod controls.. they're so tiny. I think I'd have to buy a mini-stylus just to push play. :[

That isn't really the newest iphone screen. That is a image capture from one of the recent videos with a picture photoshopped onto it. Look at the very top you can see where they didn't stretch the corner enough.